Willimantic police attend service for slain MIT officer

Five Willimantic police officers attended a service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday that honored slain officer Sean Collier, who is thought to have been killed by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.

Five Willimantic police officers attended a service at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology on Wednesday that honored slain officer Sean Collier, who is thought to have been killed by the Boston Marathon bombing suspects last week.

Officers Daniel Rovella, Thomas Krynski, and Matthew Nixon along with corporals George Rosado and Matthew Solak left Willimantic at 6 a.m. for the drive to Boston. They attended a noon service on the MIT campus in Cambridge which featured speeches by Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.

Among other local departments sending delegations were Groton and Waterford as well as Connecticut state police. Thousands of police officers attended, the local participants said.

“It was a very emotional memorial service and a real honor to represent the Willimantic police,” Solak said in a press release. “It really showed how much the MIT community cared for Officer Collier.”